


Stuck With You

by mariztella28



Category: White Collar
Genre: Angst, Drama & Romance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:42:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24800257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariztella28/pseuds/mariztella28
Summary: Neal thought he had known what true love and being in love meant. But not until he met her. Now he must face a future without her. How will he survive?
Relationships: Neal Caffrey & June Ellington, Neal Caffrey/Original Female Character(s), Peter Burke & Neal Burke, Peter Burke/Neal Caffrey
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not very good at summaries, but I hope you still give this story a chance. I have a lot of it written down. It might be a different take on characters you've come to know.

Peter was in his car heading towards his home to have a quick lunch with his wife. He didn’t normally do it since he’s always so busy with a case, but he found himself with a rare opportunity of nothing to do for a couple of hours since he delegated all that needed to be taken care of to Neal, Diana, and Jones. He turned on the police scanner in his car. He didn’t need to listen to it because he normally doesn’t respond to the calls, but he uses it anyway to get an idea of which road to avoid in the case there was traffic accident. He didn’t expect the call that came next.

The female voice informed nearby officers to respond on a gunshot female victim on the corner of 2nd Ave. and East 17th street. Peter crinkled his brow upon hearing the street corner. Why does that sound and seem familiar? He thought to himself. Isn’t that where Stuyvesant Park is? Stuyvesant Park…that’s where she’s supposed to meet the buyer…it can’t be…he thought as he connected the dots. He immediately turned on his siren. Better to be safe than sorry, right? What’s the harm in making sure it’s not her on the radio? He thought as he pushed on the accelerator to drive faster. He pulled out his phone from his jacket pocket and called Neal and told him to meet him where on that street corner. He didn’t give him a chance to ask what it was about before he hung up and concentrated on getting to his destination fast.

Flashing blue and red lights shone in the distance. Firefighters and EMT rushed about to attend to the emergency while policemen secured the area. Onlookers and bystanders paused from their daily routine to watch the commotion unfolding in front of them. Some of them were whispering to each other. Others had a look of misery and sadness as if knowing that the grim reaper had come to collect another soul.

Peter hurriedly arrived on the scene after being alerted in his radio about the gunshot victim. He flashed his badge to the policeman guarding the yellow tape. He stood aside and lifted the caution strip to let the special agent inside.

Peter’s worse scenario was confirmed when he saw that it was her that was lying and bleeding on the ground. He watched with a worried face as the medical team encircled her. He saw as her eyes fluttered weakly towards him. She tried to lift her hand and beckon him.

“Ma’am try to relax, please,” one of the EMT workers said.

“Peter,” she ignored the advice and groans as she coughed up a bit of blood.

Peter knelt by her and held her reaching hand for comfort and support. He was not one to be squeamish around blood, but how was it possible to have so much around her? Was it his imagination? His guilt? It looked as if she was covered entirely in a pool of red. So bright and accusing that it was all he could see.

“Kell…it’s Keller…” she warned. Peter’s face fell and became red with anger as he heard what she said. He looked down and shook his head with disbelief as he pursed his lips The bastard was back in his city. He still hadn’t forgotten what he did to Elizabeth, and now he’d come after one of their own again. But he couldn’t worry about the dastardly criminal right now, his attention needed to be on the young woman in front of him fighting for her life. He saw her open her mouth to say something, but just groaned and coughed up more blood.

“Ryne, save your energy,” he pleaded.

“One more thing…Tell Neal…I’m sorry…and that…that I love him…please, Peter…promise me…” she whispered before her fearful, begging eyes closed. He felt her grip weaken. Her breathing became more shallow. The medical team tried to hide their panic looks. They worked even faster to prep her for transport to the nearest hospital. Even though, she was unconscious Peter still felt the need to reply to her wish.

“I promise, Ryne, but you’re going to be ok. You’re going to be able to say those things to Neal, alright,” he told her with feigned encouragement because he didn’t know if she really would be able to. He didn’t know if she heard him, but he hoped she did. Her wounds looked ghastly. He noticed that it looked like she suffered two gunshot wounds, one on the abdomen and the other on the chest.

The EMTs shooed Peter away so they could rush Ryne to the hospital. He went back and stood to the side trying to manage the shock and the gravity of the situation she was under. Ryne was able to tell him who shot her, but he was more worried about what Neal would do once he found out. Peter glanced at his hands and saw that her blood was smeared all over it. He realized that she was lying on the sidewalk slowly slipping because of him. It was his fault.

At the other side of the block, Neal rounded off the corner casually strolling where Peter told him to meet immediately. Even though his friend sounded rushed on the phone, he didn’t bother walking faster as he thought it was just another break on the case they were currently working on. A conman was never late, everyone else was simply early.

Neal’s eyes were immediately bombarded by the blinding, flashing lights of the emergency and police vehicles. He saw Peter exit his black government car and rushed to where the commotion was happening. He decided to pick up his pace then as he still had a bit of ways to go to reach the street corner, and now he had to fight the increasing throng of bystanders trying to make their way to the site to catch a glimpse of what was going on.

He saw Peter kneel and hold a woman’s hand. Neal tried to look around the growing crowd and immediately stopped in his track when he saw the face of the woman beside his kneeling friend, whose hands he was holding. Everything disappeared around him and all he could see was her face. It was as if the world was in slow motion. He didn’t hear the busy sounds of the concrete jungle. All he could hear was the nervous beating of his heart.

His face went ashen with fear and shock he had never known followed by an unbearable stab of pain in his heart. Before he knew or realized it, his feet were leading him in full pace towards where she laid. His panicked blue eyes were only trained on her. He saw the scene in slow motion. He saw her lose consciousness. He saw her once youthful glow become deathly pale or was it his imagination? He ran even faster to get to her in time.

“Let me through…excuse me…get out of my way…” he pushed his way through the crowd until he reached the barricade and a uniformed officer stopped him from entering.

“It’s alright. Let him in. He’s with me,” Peter said behind the policeman. He nodded in response and let Neal in. He arrived just as the EMT lifted Ryne’s unconscious body and started rolling her towards the back of the ambulance. He tried to rush by her side. His hand touched her cold skin before Peter grabbed and held him back.

“Ryne! Ryne!” All he could do was shout her name.

“Sir, please, let us do our job and take her to the hospital. If she doesn’t receive immediate treatment her chances become very slim,” one of the technicians said but he didn’t hear any of it on the account of the blood rushing to his head. Neal trashed in the agent’s arms, but his grip was stronger. He just stood and watched as the team lifted her gurney onto the back of the truck. As soon as she was inside, Neal heard deathly loud tones coming from the machine attached to her. When a second ago he couldn’t hear anything, now all he could hear were the harsh fast beeps of the heart monitor.

“She’s going to cardiac arrest. Prep the defibrillator. And get me an oxygen bag just in case,” the lady paramedic said to her partner. Neal watched them work around each other. He couldn’t believe what was happening. He thought it couldn’t get any worse, but he was wrong. His worse nightmare became a living hell. He saw her body shake uncontrollably until all he could hear was a flat tone signaling the sign of no life.

“No! No! No!” Neal screamed as he struggled in his friend’s arms. That was the last thing he heard before the ambulance doors closed. He wanted to touch her soft and warm skin, to see her beautiful eyes open, and to hear her heavenly voice. But all he could do was watch her be driven and taken further away from him.

Neal didn’t realize he was crying until he tasted the salt on his lips. As a world-renowned con artist, he trained himself to always put a mask and never show his true face or show vulnerability to the public, but who cared about that now when the love of his life was slipping away from him. He turned to face Peter and to demand some answers.

“Peter, what the hell happened?” Neal cried breathlessly. When he saw Peter’s hands covered with blood, his knees almost buckled out of nausea. He didn’t have to ask to know it was hers. Bile threatened to come up, but he quickly took hold of his fear to prevent looking more vulnerable and weaker especially in front of the bystanders watching them, or more specifically, watching him.

Peter led him away towards his car. He didn’t answer his question or said anything else he just guided Neal to the passenger seat. When he sat down, Peter made his way towards the drivers side and sped away to the direction of the New York Presbyterian Hospital. They didn’t speak during the ride and tension built within the small confine of the vehicle. Peter kept glancing at Neal, but he only stared ahead unblinking.

Not more than fifteen minutes later, they arrived and burst through the door of the emergency room. Neal ran to the reception desk to ask the status for a Ms. Ryne Beneventi. The receptionist typed in her computer and spouted off typical medical jargon.

“She arrived not long ago. They managed to restart her heart. She was rushed to emergency surgery, so it will be a while till you hear anything,” she recited almost monotonously as if she didn’t care about what happened to her.

Neal controlled his anger and just walked away towards where the vending machines stood. He paced back and forth the tiny hallway. He clenched and unclenched his hands over and over again. He felt so weak and tired. He leaned on the side of one of the machines to rest and shut get away from all of it for a second, but all he could see was her unconscious body. He thought of Ryne and how he would give anything to trade places with her right now.

He couldn’t hold his emotions in anymore and he burst into tears as he slid down the side of the machine. He was so close to losing her. He still could. He rested his elbows on his raised knees and covered his tears with his shaking hands.

Peter’s heart broke as Neal fell apart. All he could do was watch. He didn’t know how to help, but he thought a simple gesture would be a start. He knelt in front of his friend shielding him away from the eyes of people passing by. He reached out and patted Neal’s shoulder lightly to let him know he was there to support him.

Neal willed himself to calm down. It took most of his strength but he managed to hold his tears back in. Even though what he wanted to do was scream at the world, he didn’t. Instead he sealed his emotions temporarily and put on a steely face. Not for himself but for the love of his life. He knows she’s fighting to come back to him, so will he. He will fight and be strong so when she wakes up, he’s there to welcome her. Slowly, he stood up and dusted his Devore suit and faced his friend.

“Peter, what happened?” He asked again this time determined to not be ignored. Peter hesitated to look his friend in the eye, afraid of what might come when he tells him of what he learned. But if he learned anything about Neal over the last several years was that he’d stop at nothing to learn the truth, so he didn’t really have a choice but to tell him Ryne’s last words.


	2. Chapter 1

Four days earlier…

Earlier in the week, the FBI caught wind of an unidentified man that came into the city in the hopes of selling a stolen Rembrandt painting in New York. It sparked their attention because the particular piece hadn’t been seen or heard for at least two decades. The storm on the Sea of Galilee went missing in 1990 and now it has resurfaced.

Peter and Neal followed the trail of clues and they managed to set up an appointment with their mystery man in Gramercy Park. As per protocol, the FBI staked out and waited for their man to show up from the confines of a worn utility truck parked two blocks away from the meeting site. Peter, Neal, Jones, and Diana all took a screen of their own and watched for anyone suspicious to show up.

“There,” Neal pointed on his screen as an anonymous man sat down on one of the benches. He was a young man in his late 20s to early 30s with brown hair, but what caught Neal’s eye was his demeanor. His knee was bouncing up and down, his fingers were fidgeting, and his eyes kept glancing and looking around nervously. This man was no art thief. He was just a young man. He looked at Peter to tell him, but from the looks of it he already knew what he was going to say.

“Guys, I don’t think this guy is our man. Just look at him. He doesn’t even come close to the profile of an art thief. I don’t think this guy can steal a candy bar from a gas station. I think we are looking for another guy. This guy is just a middleman,” Peter told his team.

“I agree, boss, so what’s the plan?” Diana asked.

“We send Neal in to find out what he wants, and go from there,” he answered. He watched as Neal stood up, fixed his tie and suit, and flashed his signature, smug smile before exiting the van.

Neal confidently walked towards the bench the man was sitting on, but before he could even come near him the young man glanced at him, ducked his head, and appeared as if he whispered something to an earpiece. Guess that confirms the theory of this guy being just a patsy, but now Neal knew he’d been made. Without showing realization, Neal kept walking acting as if he was just taking a stroll through the park.

He made a big loop back towards the van and informed the others when he got there that the still unidentified knew who Neal was and he informed his partner, or employer, of him through the use of an earpiece.

“By the looks of it, he knew who I was. I don’t think this plan is much of a plan anymore, Peter,” Neal said.

Peter had his thinking, planning face on. Then, a brief look of hesitation flashed on his face. No one else would have caught it but Neal was a master at detecting facial expressions, subtle or otherwise. He saw it. When Peter turned to him, he saw it in his eyes. He beckoned him to talk outside the van so he followed.

“What’s up, Peter?” Neal inquired.

“I was thinking. This guy came to New York out of the blue to sell a valuable, stolen painting. What does that tell us? He’s desperate to get the piece out of his hand, so he needs to find a buyer fast. What if we put a middle man on the table?” Peter explained.

“A fencer?” Neal questioned although he knew it was the right answer.

“Where are we going to find someone good enough to act as an art fencer? Diana? She’s good, but I have a hunch this guy is going to need someone more well-versed in the world of fine art. I would suggest Mozzie but he’s been…occupied…since the Cape Verde fiasco. So who else is there?” Neal explained.

Peter looked at him with a look of hesitation with just a dash of regret. It dawns on Neal why he was looking at him that way.

“Oh, no. No. No, Peter, No. You are not bringing her into this,” Neal began to object to his friend’s idea.

“Neal, listen, she’s the only chance we have of catching this guy. With her background in situations like this, who could be more perfect?” Peter tried to persuade. Neal was still not convince. He did not like this at all. Not one bit. Peter had one more card to play to try and get Ryne to do it.

“Well, how about we ask her opinion on it?” Peter slowly asked. He had come to know the young woman well in the year and a half she’s been in Neal’s life. He knew if anyone could change Neal’s mind, it’s her.

Neal had always been the romantic. Peter had seen him fall too easily and get heartbroken and dealt with loss no one should ever have to go through. He truly thinks that Neal loved them in his own way, but not the way he loves Ryne. Of all the women he’s seen come and go, Kate, Alex, Sara, even Rebecca, in his friends life she’s the only woman he was the most protective about.

He could admit that seeing his friend care about someone the way he cared about Ryne gave him hope that Neal could have what he has with Elizabeth. A home, a family, love, happiness, contentment on where he is and what he has.

“Fine. Come by the apartment later,” Neal gave in and walked away but not back to the van.

“Where are you going?” Peter asked him.

Neal turned around and a flashed a bright smile, “To make my case before you show up.”

He arrived at June’s house and as he does everyday since he moved in he went to say hello to his beautiful, kind landlord before making his way upstairs. He looked everywhere on the lower floors for her, but he figured she currently wasn’t home so he headed upstairs to his apartment.

The rich tones of a lively piano music being played gradually became louder as he ascended the narrow stairwell. A grin began to form on his face as he remembered the animated conversation they had about bringing getting a piano to his apartment.

_“Come on, babe. It’s all I’m asking. Everything else in the apartment is yours. I just want one thing that’s for me. My own mark on Neal Caffrey’s perfect apartment,” she said in almost whiny, but endearing voice._

_“Ryne, I just don’t see the practicality of having a piano in here. Do you know how hard it will be to get it up here? And where would we put it?” Neal reasoned while tying his tie in front of the tall mirror beside their bed . He turned around to face her after he finished fixing himself._

_She sashayed toward him slowly, enticingly, until coming to a stop in front of him to fix the lapels of his designer jacket._

_“There’s plenty of room in front of the bed,” she suggested, almost pouted, and looked at his blue eyes with her big, hazel one pleadingly. The only thing missing was batting eyes, but she was not a little girl begging for candy. She’s was a sophisticated woman who knew that the man in front of her would give her the world if she asked for it. He couldn’t resist her, and she knew it._

_“Ugh, fine, you can have a piano in here,” he gave in and laughed when she jumped for joy at getting what she wanted._

_“The great Neal Caffrey tamed by big eyes and pouty lips. What have I become?” He looked down and shook his head with feign disappointment._

_She lifted his face by the chin and flashed the brightest of smiles before she closed in and gave him a passionate kiss. One of his hands held the back of her head while the other wrapped around her waist to bring her closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and threaded her fingers through his brown locks._

_Had he no plans of meeting Peter, he would have gladly had his way with her on the apartment they now shared. Funny, even though Sara lived in his apartment for a brief time he never considered them sharing his home. It was always his, and Sara was there conveniently due to circumstances at the time they were dating. That’s not the case with Ryne. She’s different. He wanted to share everything with her, to be with her, to spend every waking minute of his life in the comfort of her arms. It was at that moment he realized he wanted to be hers forever._

_Neal Caffrey was smitten with her. He knew he had never felt like this with anyone before. Sara had been close to capturing his heart, but she demanded a life he couldn’t give her. With all the women that came to his life, she’s the only one that didn’t want anything from him. She didn’t demand him to change, to be less the conman and more the honest-living-type-of guy. She encouraged and loved that he needed to live an almost free-spirited life. She simply loved him, Neal Caffrey, and all his facets, no more and no less._

_“I love you, Ryne Beneventi, more than anything in this world, more than the finest art or jewelry. If you would have me, I want to be yours forever,” Neal proclaimed as he pulled away from the kiss and looked deeply into her eyes. He held her closer to him. Neal had never in his life said those three words to anyone but her._

_Kate knew he loved her, but he never said the words aloud. It was always implied, assumed. Alex was a spontaneous relationship. They had something, but not enough for those words. With Sara, he came close. He realized he fancied the “domestic” life with her. He cared for her perhaps a bit more than the others. He even proposed to her as part of a job they were doing. Rebecca, she, was a different case. A loose canon not worth mentioning._

_But Ryne, she was the light in the darkness. She was his compass when he felt torn on which direction he should go. She was the breath he needed to live. “I love you, Neal Caffrey. And I am yours as much as you are mine. Forever,” she replied with a bright smile as she caressed his cheek softly with a warm, soft hand. He leaned to her touch and kissed the back of her palm before pulling away. He would have loved to have stayed with her the whole day, but almost in cue his phone began to ring. His leash beckoned._

In the present, Neal shook the memory away and proceeded up the flight of stairs towards their apartment. He opened the door quietly as to not disturb her. He leaned by the doorway mesmerized by the picture painted in front of him with Ryne lost in her world of music simultaneously filling him with joy and contentment he never knew he could feel.


End file.
